Another snow jobThe network meteorologists barely had time to come up for air while “forecasting” the latest snowstorm non-disaster. Politicians, fearing what might happen to their approval numbers if a blizzard hit, went on TV to announce they were taking proactive measures. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shut down tunnels, bridges, even the subway to prepare for the worst. Governors Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie announced road closings in New York and...

Private Option speechGov. Asa Hutchinson’s health care reform speech last Thursday was what the State of the Union address ought to be but rarely is – an accurate definition of a problem respecting both sides, followed by a solution that actually has a chance of being enacted. Hutchinson spoke last week at UAMS before an auditorium full of legislators, health care policymakers, and other interested listeners. Hutchinson started his speech with a history lesson. On...

Random thoughts on the passing sceneRandom thoughts on the passing scene: Who says President Obama doesn’t promote bipartisanship? His complicity in Iran’s moving toward nuclear bombs has alarmed some top Senate Democrats enough to get them to join Republicans in opposition to the Obama administration’s potentially suicidal foreign policy. Before the current measles outbreak, measles was once almost wiped out in the United States. But an article in a medical journal more than a ...

A look back at the first weekLITTLE ROCK — Last week started with the annual Right to Life March on Jan. 18. I attended my first march 28 years ago when I was a newcomer to politics. And I noticed that no other candidates or officeholders were present then. This past Sunday, it was a different scene. Our congressmen attended. Members of the Legislature attended. And our constitutional officers attended. It's evident that times have changed. Attitudes have changed. And mor...

Hutchinson walks fine lineLITTLE ROCK — Goodbye, private option. Hello, AsaCare. Calling on lawmakers to keep Arkansas’ compromise Medicaid expansion alive through 2016 as he eyes a longer term health care plan, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson is trying to take ownership of an issue where he’s tried to tread carefully over the past two years. It’s an approach that sends him straight into the political minefield that he acknowledges has sharply divided his party. “The ph...

Community college proposalPresident Barack Obama proposed in his State of the Union address last week that two years of community college be free for responsible students across America. The reaction of some, predictable with anything this president advocates, is that Obama wants yet another giveaway program. Because Republicans now control both houses of Congress and are focused on the 2016 presidential election, nothing will come of the proposal. And yet it’s one tha...

Books you should have read alreadyNot that anyone wanted to know, but I’ve got opinions about things. Like it or not, I’ve got them. Last week, when the Seattle Seahawks came from behind to defeat the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship, I had plenty to say on the subject because the Packers have been my favorite sports team since junior high school. So I took it to Facebook, where one of my friends snarlingly replied, “Oh good, opinions about sports.” Imagine that. The ...

A president unbounded by realityEnthusiastic, entertaining, energized and eminent, President Obama’s demeanor and delivery at the State of the Union belied his political reality. Unbowed, unbroken and possibly unaffected by the recent midterm Republican wave, Obama displayed his great skill by delivering an emotional teleprompter-driven speech that was a throwback to his first election. Varying tempo, pitch, passion and inflection, his speech was more a theatrical performanc...

Winston Churchill: A man for all timesLONDON — It is an old debating point: Do the times make the man, or does the man make the times? In the case of Winston Churchill, whose death 50 years ago Saturday the British are remembering with more than nostalgia, it is both. The times in Churchill’s case were both World War I, in which he served as a battalion commander, and World War II, which he helped win for Britain and America. By the standard he set, all political leaders since — w...

Cooking with the pilot lightCONWAY — If by chance you have a gas cook stove, have you ever tried to prepare a meal just using the pilot light? Well, as I can tell you from experience, it is no fun and it takes a whole lot longer, like days. In the past I have told you about a weekly men’s prayer breakfast I attend at a local church, that is not my own. There are only about 10 to 12 of us, and the fellowship we have, in addition to having intercessory prayer for people wh...

Can states fix Congress' mistakes?Can the usual processes that created the $18 trillion national debt — now more than $57,000 for every American man, woman and child — also be used to pay it down? If your answer is yes, then I encourage you to check the history books. Almost ever year since the nation was founded, the federal government has added to the national debt, and under current projections, the debt will grow bigger each year, year after year, as far as the eye can see...

Obama seizes on recoveryWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address marked a sweet spot in his presidency when economic signs and his own personal approval are on the rise. He made sure to capitalize, taking credit for policies he said raised the country out of its recession. Tuesday’s speech capped a remarkably activist 11 weeks since Obama suffered the humiliation of Democratic losses that gave Republicans control of both chambers of Congress. ...

Early presidential prospectsIslamic terrorist attacks in Europe, and European governments’ counter-attacks are more than just a passing news story. Europe is currently in the process of paying the price for years of importing millions of people from a culture hostile to the fundamental values of Western culture. And this is by no means the last of the installments of that price, to be paid in blood and lives, for smug elites’ Utopian self-indulgences in moral preening an...

Governor's energy of change easier said than doneLITTLE ROCK — Asa Hutchinson urged Arkansans to embrace the “energy of change” as the Republican ex-congressman was sworn in as the 46th governor of a state where his party used to struggle as the underdog. With a to-do list that includes overhauling the state’s workforce training system, easing prison overcrowding and confronting a bitter fight over health care, Hutchinson wasn’t shy about calling for transforming Arkansas’ government. “Somet...

Jonesboro gets 'political plum'Jonesboro was bound to get a prized, long-awaited “political plum,” no matter who won the gubernatorial election of 2014. Each major candidate, Republican Asa Hutchinson and Democrat Mike Ross, promised publicly that he would appoint someone from Jonesboro to the powerful Arkansas Highway Commission. Thus, Hutchinson fulfilled that pledge by announcing that sometime this month Alec Farmer, a Jonesboro businessman and farmer, will take a seat o...

Pope County Quorum Court opposes Plains and Clean LineRecently the Pope County Quorum Court voted unanimously to oppose the construction of Plains and Clean Line’s High Voltage Direct Current transmission line. The HVDC line has been proposed to run from Guymon, Okla., to Memphis, Tenn. If built it will move 3,500 MegaWatts of wind generated electricity from the Midwest to Arkansas and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) power grids. The resolution reads in part, “If this power line is built, it...

The race is onEditor’s note: Will Berry is one of the board of directors for the RussVegas Half Marathon and Relay. He will write a column about various topics relating to the half-marathon in the weeks leading up to the April 10-11 event. On April 26, 2014, over a thousand people ages 13 to 77 came from 22 states, including New Mexico, California and Connecticut, to Russellville. This doesn’t include the friends and family they brought with them. Every hot...

Mr. President, work with CongressWASHINGTON, D.C. — The State of the Union, the constitutionally mandated presidential address, is typically delivered to Congress at the beginning of the year. While today’s method of delivery is a speech before a joint session of Congress, Thomas Jefferson started a common practice among presidents that lasted for more than a century of delivering a written report to lawmakers. For the first time in Barack Obama’s presidency, he will deliver ...

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John Boozman / SenatorThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Smart911 has already saved livesWe live in an era when privacy is difficult to maintain. Even things we want to remain hidden — bank accounts, Social Security numbers, where we store our valuables — are at risk because of emerging technologies and time-tested information-stealing tactics. At times, we even divulge things about ourselves, through social media perhaps, that someone could use for a nefarious reason. However, sharing some information with the right people can sa...

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Arkansas Department of Emergency ManagementThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

We must improve race relationsCONWAY — To begin our visit today, I would like to make a statement and then tell why I believe it is so important: “We Must Improve Race Relations in America.” There is no good reason why this is not true, and what a much better nation we will have when this comes to pass. In this respect, I believe I have some ideas that can make a difference. As a basic foundation for my premise, I would like to tell you about a friend I have here in my com...